Los Angeles County sheriff candidates

Candidate Paul Tanaka held the highest rank of any current or former L.A. County sheriff’s deputy who’s running for the top job.

Working his way up from deputy to second-in-command of the department over his 33-year tenure, Tanaka said he gained an in-depth understanding of the department that will come in handy if he is elected sheriff of Los Angeles County.

Meanwhile, the nine years he’s served as mayor in the 60,000-resident city of Gardena provides him with the political know-how that’s needed to be effective at the top spot, Tanaka said.

paul tanaka

Age: 55

Residence: Gardena

Experience: Former second in command to retired Sheriff Lee Baca; Gardena mayor

“When you tie that all together, I’m able to step right in from day one and take over as the sheriff of Los Angeles County,” Tanaka said.

Tanaka’s law enforcement career, however, ended under a cloud of controversy last year after his leadership style was, in part, blamed for jailhouse brutality.

But Tanaka points out he wasn’t in charge of L.A. County’s jails when the reported abuses occurred. The allegations, Tanaka said, came to be after he was viewed as a political threat to his former boss, ex-Sheriff Lee Baca.

“You’ll never find anyone I ever worked with who will tell you I tolerated bad behavior or abusing their authority, ever,” Tanaka said.

Disagreements with Baca over how to lead the department, Tanaka said, caused him to resign.

If elected sheriff, Tanaka said he would implement practical policies to help ease jail overcrowding.

The department’s work release program, Tanaka said, would be expanded to help ease overcrowding by keeping low risk criminals out-of-jail, while still making them repay their debts to society. The program lets inmates serve their sentences by picking up litter and performing other supervised tasks during the day, while going home at night.

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“Now you create room at the jail for people who commit violent crimes and society would like to see locked up for 100 percent of their sentence,” Tanaka said.

PAUL TANAKA

Age: 55

Residence: Gardena

Experience: Former second in command to retired Sheriff Lee Baca; Gardena mayor